1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to valves and, more particularly, is concerned with housings for valves of the type having side doors being useful with hydraulic jet pumps used in the oil and gas industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cavities/housings for containing valve assemblies for use with jet pump systems have been described in the related art, however, none of the related art devices disclose the unique features of the present invention.
The conventional hydraulic jet pump system, including the cavity/housing and hydraulic jet pump, have and still do address unique types of obstacles in specific types of well conditions where artificial lift is desired. That uniqueness occurs when three common factors become apparent, but not limited to those factors only, as follows: (1) they are too deep for rod pumping; (2) they have high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide present; and, (3) their bottom hole pressure depletes to the point that they cannot support any column of fluid. The related art for this assortment of production obstacles was the introduction and use of hydraulic jet pumps and cavities/housings and related surface accessories. Production flow results from fluid (power fluid, e.g., oil) being pumped down the tubing and through the hydraulic jet pump (seated in a standing valve above a packer) where a Ventura effect causes a siphoning of production fluid into the pump which then flows into the annulus and back to surface storage. The hydraulic jet pump cavity/housing houses the hydraulic jet pump on-seat while this action occurs. The conventional hydraulic jet pump cavity/housing has ports that allow for the production fluid flowing out of the hydraulic jet pump to flow into and up the annulus. If there is no hydraulic jet pump or blanking tool in place in the hydraulic jet pump cavity, the annulus and tubing string are completely flow communicated. The blanking tool serves as an insertion device in the cavity to prevent flow between the annulus and tubing string. The blanking tool cannot be inserted until the standing valve is removed, which opens an unrestricted flow path to the production formation prior to the blanking tool being inserted and sealed. The blanking tool only holds pressure from inside (with limited pressure from the outside) and has an extremely restricted inside diameter. These three factors result in the blanking tool not being dependable and having low utility where downhole operations, controls and treatments are concerned.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,427 dated May 15, 1984, Mashaw, Jr. disclosed a piston expanded metallic seal for side door weld valve. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0144744 dated Jun. 28, 2007, Wong disclosed a valve apparatus with seal assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,005 dated Dec. 24, 1985, Helderle, et al., disclosed a sliding sleeve valve for an oil well. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0259595 dated Oct. 27, 2011, Nguy, et al., disclosed a mechanical sliding sleeve. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0119594 dated May 31, 2007, Turner, et al., disclosed a hydraulic sleeve valve with position indication, alignment and bypass. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,038 dated Nov. 15, 1983, Schmuck disclosed a formation protection valve apparatus and method.
While these valves for use with hydraulic jet pump systems may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as hereinafter described.